What to spend your pay rise on - Top 10 gadgets under £300

What to spend your pay rise on - Top 10 gadgets under £300

Get gadget happy and spend your pay rise!

So you have just completed your Apprenticeship, you’ve been promoted by your employer and you’ve had a pay-rise, happy days!

Isn’t learning whilst you earn a great thing? Average student debt for graduates over a 3-year period is around £50,000, but on an Apprenticeship, you continue to learn whilst you get paid, and qualify with nationally recognised qualifications.

An Apprenticeship means that you can treat yourself to a well-earned gadget now and again, and even fast track yourself to car ownership. Here is a list of 10 gadgets that you can buy for under £300 to give you an idea of what you can buy with your pay-rise!

Canon EOS 1300D DSLR Camera - £299

This one is for all photographers out there. The Canon EOS 1300D is an extremely popular camera for a very good reason. If you are just beginning your DSLR journey, the 18 megapixel EOS 1300D is the ideal place to start. Not only does it produce amazing high quality photos but also cinematic Full HD movies, all of which you can effortlessly share using Wi-Fi or connect to Android NFC enabled devices. You can’t get better value for money.

Bose SoundLink around-ear wireless headphones II - £199

If you want crisp sound quality, premium comfort, and a wire free life you’re looking at the right pair of headphones. These Bose headphones boast an impressive 15 hour battery life and wire-like quality from the Bluetooth connection. It also works well as a headset for phone calls, its buttons are easy to operate by feel, and a nice carrying case is included.

Gaming Console - £229 - £249

If you haven’t already got yourself a PS4 or Xbox One, now is the time. With the release of the PS4 Pro and the Xbox One X, the ‘Slim’ models of each console have come down in price considerably. Perfect for the person who wants to spend more time gaming than saving!

ULTIMATE EARS - BLAST - £169

Being one of the newest products from ULTIMATE EARS line-up, the BLAST is a little speaker that packs a huge punch. It produces a massive amount of sound, and thanks to it being a cylinder it pumps out the tunes in every direction. Also, if you happen to have an Amazon Alexa in your house you can link it up and tell it what you want to hear. Oh, and its waterproof.

ULTIMATE EARS – MEGABLAST - £269

This is the big brother of the previous speaker, the monstrous MEGABLAST. It has all the capabilities of the smaller model, but the specs are blown up on a huge scale. It pumps out 95 decibels worth of tunes and is 40% louder than its little brother. A true party starter. It has more deep bass and punching kicks. Having a party soon and don’t have a speaker set up? Here’s your answer.

Apple IPad - £285

This specific model is the 9.7” screen with 32GB internal storage. It comes with an 8 megapixel rear camera and a 1.2 megapixel front camera. Perfect for taking notes, playing tablet games and superb for watching all your favourite shows and movies on those long car or plane journeys.

Sony Bravia 32-Inch Smart TV - £269

Being a full smart TV you have full access to the internet, YouTube, and many popular apps on the big 32 inch screen. It’s great for conventional TV use such as watching your favourite shows and movies but it’s also optimised for gaming on consoles such as the Xbox One and PS4 with HDR technology that preserves quality the brightest and darkest scenes and colours. Can’t go wrong with this choice.

Parrot Mambo FPV - £159

Here is something purely for fun. This Parrot FPV drone is built for entry level racing, or just for flying around and having a blast. The FPV (First person view) headset allows you to be immersed into exactly what the drone is viewing in real time. It has a 10 minute battery life and a range of up to 100m. There are three different modes depending on your skill level: Easy, Drift, and Race. Grasp the sensation of speed with this neat little drone!

GoPro Hero - £199

The GoPro Hero is phenomenal. It has a 10 megapixel camera able to capture video at 1440p at 60 frames per second. It has touch screen and voice control, and is waterproof up to depths of 10m. All in a package that fits into the palm of your hand. It doesn’t matter if you’re filming skydiving, horse riding, a car show, or even just a bike ride, you can guarantee it’ll look epic through the lens of this brilliant camera.

Acer Spin Touchscreen Laptop - £299

This unusual looking device doubles as a Tablet, and a Laptop, for maximum portability and the flexibility to work anywhere you need to, or play anywhere you want to. The gorilla glass 11.6 inch display has a beautiful, smudge resistant appearance. With a battery life of 9 hours, your device is designed to stay at your side for the entirety of the day whilst handling everything you need to do with a nippy 1.1 GHz processor, 4GB of ram, and 500GB of internal storage.

If you are interested in learning whilst you are earning a salary, gaining valuable work experience and nationally recognised qualifications, then have a look at our Apprenticeship vacancies and see what opportunities are available in your area.